Dutch Oven Pumpkin Cornbread
Cornbread mix, a can of pumpkin, and coals. Bakes in the same pot you cooked dinner in.
- calories
- 280
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 80
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 12, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 240 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dessert
- Snack
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Boxed cornbread mix | 1 package | about 15 oz, the kind that wants milk and egg |
|---|---|---|
| Canned pumpkin puree | 3/4 cup | not pie filling; a 15 oz can covers a double batch |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/4 cup | reconstitutes to the 1 cup the box asks for |
| Powdered whole egg | 2 tbsp | stands in for 2 eggs |
| Canola oil | 1/4 cup | |
| Pumpkin pie spice | 1 tsp | plus 1 tbsp for the topping |
| Sugar | 1/2 cup | for the topping |
| Water | 1 cup plus 1/4 cup |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame. About 20 briquettes' worth if you are counting.
- Oil the inside of a 10-inch dutch oven, bottom and an inch up the walls.
- In the lid, upside down over low heat, or in a bowl, whisk the powdered milk into 1 cup of water and the egg powder into 1/4 cup of water. Let both sit two minutes so they stop being gritty.
- Dump the cornbread mix into the oven. Add the pumpkin, the reconstituted milk and egg, the oil, and 1 tsp of spice. Stir until it just comes together. Overmixing makes it tough.
- Mix the sugar and the tablespoon of spice, then scatter it over the top.
- Set the oven on 8 coals and put 16 on the lid. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Rotate the pot and the lid a quarter turn every 10 minutes so it does not scorch on one side.
- Done when a twig comes out clean. Pull the lid off away from you so ash does not land in it.
The original is a filled muffin baked in a muffin pan with cream cheese, fresh milk, and eggs. None of that travels. Powdered milk and powdered egg do the same job out of a bag, and one dutch oven replaces twelve muffin cups, so there is a single pot to scrape instead of a tray to scrub in cold water.
Canned pumpkin is the concession. It is heavy and wet, but it is also the fat-free moisture that keeps a cornbread mix from baking into a brick, and dried pumpkin powder does not rehydrate into anything close. Coals on the lid matter more than coals underneath: heat from below alone gives you a burnt bottom and raw middle.
Packing
Combine the cornbread mix, milk powder, egg powder, and 1 tsp spice in one gallon bag at home. Sugar and topping spice go in a small bag. Oil rides in a leakproof bottle. The pumpkin can is the only heavy item, which is why this is a car-camping recipe.
Variations
- Stir 3/4 cup chopped pecans into the batter. That kills the nut-free claim.
- With a cooler, soften 8 oz of cream cheese with 1 cup powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla, then spoon it in pockets across the batter before baking.
- Cook it in a foil-lined skillet on a grill grate with a lid if you have no dutch oven. Watch it closer.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/pumpkin-honey-corn-muffins